The Insanely Courageous Guide to Succeeding as an Entrepreneur

“All you need is 20 seconds of insane courage and I promise you something great will come of it.”

I finally watched “We Bought a Zoo” last night. Amazing movie. One of my favorite lines was when Matt Damon’s character explained to his son that all he needed was 20 seconds of insane courage.

My second favorite line is “Why not?” in answer to questions. I loved that because too often when someone asks us a question of why (why you? why now? why try? why dare?), we want to justify our answers with “because…” instead of responding with “why not?”

But let’s get back to the courage. Insane courage.

I think we all have our own stories of those brief moments of insane courage we found deep inside to move ahead. Entreprenuerial life is perhaps a series of moments of insane courage strung together one after another.

Tell me about yours. I’d love to hear about one of those defining moments for you.

Leave your comment and together the comments will become “The Insanely Courageous Guide to Succeeding as an Entreprenuer.”

I have an insanely courageous entrepreneurial moment to share. In my last business I ran a singles dance party for the over 40’s. I had been using fairly average venues to hold these weekly functions. I really wanted to attract a more upmarket crowd, but the venues I was using weren’t doing it for me.

I could not afford to pay huge room hire fees so I developed an idea about approaching 5 star venues and offered to use their ‘down time. ‘ All I could offer in return was that my guests would fill their empty room and the venue would pocket the money from drinks.

I was very nervous about this and thought that they might tell me to get lost. But, I made an appointment with the best hotel in the city and put forward the proposal to the events manager. He liked it and that was the start of building my business even further by attracting new clients. After that, I was able to use all the 5 star venues in my city, because I had developed an insanely courageous mindset.

I still used the old venues as well, because I was relying on down time and needed a venue every week, but noticed that each venue attracted a different crowd. The more venues I added, the more my client base grew.

How can you take that simple idea and use it in your business? Do not think that just because someone is well known, they wouldn’t be interested in partnering with you. Chances are they would.

Become an insanely courageous entrepreneur. You will increase your visibility and your credibility and your business will prosper.Madonna recently posted… Why Would Someone Buy From You?

Really cool blog post Michelle. A defining moment in my business when I realized that contrary to popular belief, it does not take money to make money, it takes creativity. By partnering with others, I’ve been able to create amazing retreats, boot camps and seminars at little to no cost. There are so many people who would love to live a life of greater service, so it is important that we share our ideas, gifts, talents, skills and abilities to help more people.

Great Post Michelle!!
My insanely courageous entreprenurial moment came when I decided to share my story of hearing the amazing loving messages from trees that flow to me when i sit by them.
I was sooo nervous and worried about being thought of as crazy, that I was going to keep it my own secret.. But somehow I tentatively put my toes out into the water and told a few people..
Seems like there are Tree stories EVERYWhere.. and it resonates deeply with many people now.

AND they also kept a lid on their stories for their own fear of being called crazy.. Isn’t that amazing.. how we all feel that we are crazy so nobody talks. and it just snowballs.. but it only takes on person to be courageous and say.. HEY! This is my story, and see what happens and grows from there.

Wow, I never thought about it that way until now. So true! I’m still working on mine, but someone on my team just approached a salesperson at a local BMW dealership (because the company we’re in business with happens to give BMW’s to promoters). She’s got a follow-up meeting with the manager! Approaching strangers–even through social media–is a challenge that needs to be overcome by ALL entrepreneurs if they are to succeed!

Those moments when we have to make a decision are the most important moments of all we do. I would say my courageous moment was just making the decision that I would be entrepreneur, and not look back. There wasn’t necessarily at “because…..” at the time, but more of a “why not!”

I am just planning my defining moment Michelle! I live on the Isle of Wight UK. We are surrounded by water – the most expensive water in the world to cross. I have issues with the deals from the ferry companies. A network group for the small businesses on the Island is one of the businesses I run. Life is particulalry hard here at the moment and getting to the mainland is becoming a financial nightmare! I am planning to get an apppointment for coffee with the CEOs of Wightlink and Red Funnel and Hover Travel. I have announced this publicly to people on the Island and some look at me as though I am mad. If I don’t ask – there is no way I will get what I want. i have been taught by entrepreneur Roberta Jerram and others to dream BIG. My dreams are now huge – I’ll report back after my coffee appointments!Lyn Blackledge recently posted… A week in the life of Mumpreneur, Lyn Blackledge!

Great one!! My challenge is to get interested entrepreneurs or investors becoming financially part of our Co-operative Unique Holistic Centre Project here in Woking,Surrey,in exchange for Promotion and Dividends from Profits. Time to get even more creative AND EVEN more Courageous like the Lion!!

Many years when I was transitioning from owning a business to going back to a job, I promised myself that I wouldn’t settle for any job that wasn’t uplifting and pleasing.

As I looked for the “perfect” job for me, I agreed to do substitute teaching to make ends meet. At that time in my life I had separated from my husband and still had 4 kids who liked to eat, so my ends were far from meeting.

The day I showed up for the first day of the substitute teaching job was also the first day of a teachers’ strike. (No wonder it was very easy to land that position.) The chaos and administrators inability to handle the crisis reminded me of all the reasons I had left public school middle school teaching in the first place.

Never in my life have I quit a job after just one day, but the next day I summoned the insane courage to call the principal to let her know I would not be there. It was a crazy thing to do given that I didn’t know how I was going to pay that month’s bills, but my authenticity was at stake. That was about 25 years ago. I’ve never regretted it.Flora Morris Brown, Ph.D. recently posted… How to Turn Your Content into the Rough Draft of Your Book

A defining moment in my life was when I realized you can further your dreams by sticking it out in spite of all the hardships and trials. Total dedication and absorption to your vocation spell a big difference when you need to pursue the sometimes elusive success. But when it comes, it’s all worth it in the end.Amy Turner recently posted… Ebooks Explosion

Insanely Courageous – a must for any entrepreneur and 20 seconds (if that) is all it takes to propel forward at any given point in time!

I remember when I was first asked to do a speaking engagement a few years ago. Though I love to talk to others about how I can help them, I’ve never spoken to a group of this magnitude and was insanely afraid! Will I do well; will people in the audience know more than me and look at me like a fraud; will I get asked back – all questions that immediately popped into my head.

I contemplated saying no and passing up on the awesome opportunity, knowing that it could only help my business if I do it.

Once I put my own foot down (I’m literal sometimes and actually did a “stomp” move with my foot), I made the decision to move forward. It was one of the best decisions I’ve ever made as I’ve gained soooo many new connections and clients directly and indirectly from that one gig. Now, I enjoy and seek out speaking opportunities and have never looked back!

“Insanely Courageous” – what a wonderful combination! My life has been a long series of insanely courageous moments–and when I look back, I don’t regret any of them. What I regret were the other times when I wasn’t willing to summon my insanity and my courage and yoke them together.

One moment I’m especially proud of was founding a group called Save the Mountain, when all the local “experts” said it was gong to be “impossible” to stop a particularly horrible development proposal. I figured we could stop it in five years–but with the massive outpouring of support we were able to harness, it took only 13 months and involved literally thousands of people (I describe this campaign in some detail in my eighth book,guerrilla Marketing Goes Green).

But I will always regret *NOT* feeling empowered enough to join with others to organize a national mass protest movement against the electoral coup in November-December 2000, here in the US–I considered doing it, but I didn’t feel strong enough. I felt later that there were a lot of things I could have done and din’t a lot of people I could have pulled in–and win or lose, we would have at least to tried to prevent that “rouge state” government from taking power. And that in turn allowed an eight-year disaster that started illegal wars, trampled the rights of ordinary people, wrecked the economy, and created a third-world level gap between the 1% and the 99%.Shel Horowitz – Green/Ethical Marketing Expert recently posted… If You Dream It—Will They Come/Going Green When Nobody Notices

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